The Developer Reborn As Archmage

Darya found her way into the room in the back where the items were being packaged for travel.

The commotion she caused in the hall had just been noticed by Drakva’s staff in charge of packaging. Three women wearing red dresses rushed out of the back room into the corridor when she was about to charge in. Thinking quickly, she used two Terminate commands to phase straight through them.

A new problem awaited her as she materialized in the storage room full of valuables. A second man wearing light armor was busy hauling the expensive tree bark. Making sure to stay well out of his way, Darya snooped around the storage room, ducking behind boxes and pillars.

It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for. The mermaid was rolled inside the same display tank that she was presented in. She had been hogtied with red ribbons, laid on her stomach as if she was being transported to a buffet. Her mouth remained gagged with a red ribbon, and in this rather embarrassing posture, she seemed to have given up even more than before.

She looks heavy. Can I lift her and carry her?

She would’ve had no trouble lifting a normal teenager, but the tail half complicated things a lot. She had more volume than a bluefin tuna.

It didn’t matter. She had to drag her out if she couldn’t carry her.

She snuck around the tank to stay out of the last guard’s way. For some reason, this one didn’t seem to be as concerned with Drakva’s distant yells.

She waited patiently in the shadows, listening for distant sounds. It sounded like everyone was catching up in the hall she had left behind. She heard orders being barked, screams, and howls.

The mermaid lifted her head, and for a brief moment, their eyes met. Darya watched her swallow hard, blinking tiredly at nothing. She tapped the glass and waved at her, but the girl had no way of acknowledging her. Her tail shuddered for a bit before she closed her eyes again.

Is she sedated or something? Doesn’t matter. She doesn’t know who I am yet.

The yells from the hall finally reached the last guard mulling about in the storage room. He rushed out in a jog to check it out.

Darya waited for him to turn the corner. Once he was fully out of the way, she jumped on the tank. The mermaid had been lowered into it with a makeshift wooden pulley setup. They had already disassembled it after neatly packaging her in the tank.

Darya didn’t have time to set it back up. She picked a corner of the tank, gripped her dagger tightly, and slammed it on the glass.

[Blast Weaver]

The glass cracked at the point of impact, spider web cracks traversing the entire length of the structure as her mana exploded like sparks. She caught a glimpse of the mermaid panicking inside, but luckily, she was restrained in a way that tightened the ribbons when she struggled against them.

The collapsing tank was a greater hazard than she initially thought. The tank collapsed under its own weight, sending sharp pieces of thick glass in every direction. It all flowed outwards with the weight of the water, but she saw one half of the shattered tank sway dangerously inwards.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

Phasing through the collapsing glass and water, she placed herself between the mermaid and the falling glass.

Aiming her dagger straight at the

[Repelling Blast]

mana burst out of her skin, pushing everything away from the center. She saw the prediction dots rippled outwards, sending all the debris splashing away.

Hunching over the girl, she braced for impact as the monochrome world caught up to the prediction dots in the last half a second.

“Mhhehm! mh! mh!” the mermaid was screaming against the gag.

“Shh, calm down,” Darya said, carefully stepping over shattered glass. “I’m going to cut you free. Don’t move. There’s glass everywhere. Do you understand?”

The mermaid stared at her wide-eyed.

“Don’t move. Do you understand?” Darya repeated, pulling a red ribbon. The girl nodded.

She quickly ripped the main restraint that tied her wrists to the end of her tail. The mermaid unfurled exactly like a fish, sliding limply across the wet ground.

“Stay still! glass!” Darya warned, cutting the ribbons that bound her wrists. The mermaid’s coordination on land was abysmal. Her tail swayed almost on its own. Darya had to pin her down with her knee as she freed her arms.

At last, she slashed the gag and pulled it out of her slimy mouth.

“Bah! wh-what’s happening!” the girl asked as a stream of saliva flowed out of her mouth. The lower half of her face was sore and red from the tight ribbon that she had struggled against for a while.

“We’re going to escape. I need you to do exactly as I say,” Darya said, sliding an arm under the mermaid’s armpit. She could easily manipulate the little-girl potion of the mermaid. Her torso was half the size of Darya’s. She was rather scrawny for a growing girl.

“E-escape how! I can’t swim anywhere here!”

“You don’t need to,” Darya said, lifting her.

The girl wrapped her arms around Darya’s shoulders, clinging to dear life. Darya bent her in half and attempted to hoist her for the first time.

Holy crap, she’s like three times heavier than me!

She managed to get the slippery fish-part under control long enough to walk out of the glass debris area. Panting loudly, she lowered the tail to the ground.

“It won’t hurt you if I drag you, right?” she asked.

“N-no,” the girl said, swallowing hard. “Who are you, Missy? Are you the one who bought me?”

“Oh, I’m not that rich,” Darya said with a scoff, dragging the mermaid across the wet ground. “You’re never going to guess who sent me.”

“Who? I-is it, master Lam?!”

“Your little brother,” Darya chuckled, hoisting the girl higher on her shoulders.

“Lurim?!” the girl yelled. “How!”

“Well, that’s for later. Let’s focus on getting the hell out of the way.”

“M-master Lam! he’s here! He told me he’s going to save me. You’re working for him, Missy?”

“No. As weird as it sounds, I got to you before he did. He’s probably caught by now!” Darya huffed, dragging the girl towards the corridor out of storage.

“Oh no! master Lam! What do I do!”

“It’ll be fine,” Darya hushed her.

“But!”

“It will be fine. Don’t worry,” Darya dragged the girl into the corridor just as footsteps echoed behind them.

She started running with the girl piggybacking. Her tail scraped against the ground, slithering like a snake. They burst out into a loading bay at the end of the corridor. Three black carriages were in formation with horses unhooked.

Like I thought. None of these is ready to take off yet.

The footsteps behind them grew. Darya kept dragging the mermaid towards the exit.

They didn’t get far.

The metal doors slid open. At least twenty of Drakva’s men burst in with torches and weapons. Metal clicked in every direction as they hustled around, expanding out in a semicircle.

“Hands!” A stocky man wearing a hat jerked his gun forward as yellow beams of light fell on Darya from several directions. “You ain’t going nowhere!”

“Oh no! Oh no!” The mermaid slipped from Darya’s grasp, her body trembling from head to toe.

The stocky man walked forth, followed by three other men carrying swords.

“Don’t panic,” Darya said, eyeing the men gathering around them in droves. More came in through the open doors, followed by the sound of clattering hooves and carriages.

Footsteps and yells echoed from the corridor that they came in from. The three women wearing red dresses and two guards came rushing into the loading area. They were followed by the double-sworded warriors who were guarding the viewing room where Darya met Drakva for the first time. The women carried spears and shields, the two guards pulled out rifles, and the two warriors ran in with their swords drawn.

One of the guards pointed his gun at Darya, cocking it ready. Darya almost used a Terminate to phase out. She wasn’t going to survive a gunshot to the head.

“You!” the guard yelled through gritted teeth. “Bossman’s going to eat you alive!”

“Hands!” the stocky man yelled, approaching her in quick steps. The mermaid obeyed with a whimper, letting go of Darya to raise her hands. She flopped to the ground, unable to support her upper body with her tail.

“Careful with the merchandise!” one of the women yelled, coming closer with the spear, pointing at Darya’s chest.

“Drop your weapons, mage!” the stocky man hissed, pointing at the dagger on Darya’s waist.

Two of the men jumped on the mermaid, pinning her to the ground. Darya watched as she struggled in vain to break free. She stopped abruptly when one of the women poked her tail with a spear.

“I surrender!” Darya announced loudly, dropping the waist belt along with the dagger. She raised her hands slowly so that everybody could see.

“Where are the ropes. Tie ‘em both up!” one of the warriors yelled at a guard nearby.

“The mermaid, too?” the stocky man asked, snapping his fingers at his men to find ropes. They were already gathering leather reins from the horses nearby.

“Tie them both to the pillars! Bossman wants to kill this one with his own hands!” The guard aiming the rifle at Darya poked her on the side with it.

Within seconds, she found herself face down on the ground. The stocky man was kneeling on her neck, pressing her head to the ground with his entire weight. Leather straps bound Darya’s wrists together, and she received a couple of kicks to the side.

Grunting through the pain, she leaned against the pillar she was tied to as Drakva’s men dropped the mermaid at her feet.

A minute or two later, a procession came out of the corridor, more guards and fighters pushing a line of prisoners into the loading area. Darya saw Seris’s shocked face among them, hands tied behind her back with a belt.

The seer was limping forward with one good leg, half his face slashed and bloodied. Some of the winning bidders had also been taken prisoner, tied up with the same rope as everyone else.

Drakva followed the procession of prisoners, being carried by the huge druid Ikaro. His neck was wrapped in long scrolls brimming with green mana. Two girls hauled them on their backs, pouring their own mana into them.

Turns out they have something to heal him at the brink of death.

Drakva wheezed, staring at all the prisoners and allies gathered before him. The warriors knelt before him, as well as the girls wearing red dresses.

“Everyone…” Drakva wheezed, one hand clutching the side of his neck. Blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth as he spoke. “Take everyone to the dungeons! No one leaves!”

He pointed a crooked finger at Darya. “That one, bring her to my room. Th-the elf, as well.”

Darya hid a smirk when Seris let out a squeak. She felt bad seeing the pretty elf distressed, but she was pleased with this outcome. Things had worked out a lot smoother than she had thought.

Everything was going exactly according to her plan. No one had noticed the soulstone ring on Drakva’s blood-drenched finger.

Well, who knew Sarka was going to be this good at acting like that orc asshole?

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